Professional recognition of geologists must be established as a mandatory prerequisite if Malta is to successfully navigate the technical and financial minefields of its ambitious mass transport plans, the Chamber of Geologists said Monday.

While Infrastructure Minister Chris Bonett has recently unveiled designs for a light railway featuring underground segments, the Chamber of Geologists warned that the project mirrors the geological risks of previous metro proposals. Despite the multi-billion-euro scale of these initiatives, the Chamber highlighted a glaring systemic gap: Malta remains the only European Union member state without a National Geological Service.

The risks associated with underground excavation are currently being treated like a high-stakes gamble due to inadequate legislation. Although former proposals included a 25 percent contingency budget for geological uncertainty, the Chamber argued that no amount of money can replace expert analysis.

Current local laws only require the extraction of core samples, failing to mandate a formal geological and geotechnical report prepared by a qualified professional. This stands in stark contrast to neighboring Italy, which legally recognized the geological profession in 1963 and requires a formal geological model before any rock is disturbed.

The urgency for reform is further underscored by the public inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia, which explicitly recommended that a geologist's report precede all excavation works. However, the Chamber noted that this recommendation has been largely ignored by the government. Without a legal framework to warrant geologists or a centralized authority to oversee the nation's terrain, the technical foundation of the light railway remains unstable.

The Chamber of Geologists said it has already submitted draft legislation to the government regarding the formal recognition of their profession, yet they have received no official reaction. As the state moves forward with visions of subterranean transit, the experts insist that skipping this crucial regulatory step is a dangerous oversight. By ignoring the need for a warranted geological profession, the government is effectively putting the cart before the horse and building a foundation on shifting ground.